A Different You

Introduction

Disability is part of a lie and cannot be recognized as a deficiency in acting like a normal being. Every human being would have some sort of disability, which could be temporary or permanent at any part of life. Those individuals who have no deficiencies at all and successfully survive to an older age would have difficulties in functioning in different functions. In the United States, it is estimated that the majority of families have a person with some disability, and non-disabled (normal) people use it to help the person with some disability. People are not able to recognize the problems that disabled people face in society, and they try to avoid getting in contact with them due to their disturbed or unequal behavior. I am a normal person with no disability, and having an experience of a disability is a highly difficult task. A perception of being blind is developed here. The main aim of this paper is to define myself as a blind person with black glasses on my eyes and a white stick in my hand.

Discussion

There are many people who face a number of disabilities, which include being deaf, having malfunctioning limbs, being unable to talk, being blind, or some similar disorders. Being blind is a very difficult task to live in a busy, scheduled world of people who are not able to wait for others at all. I am developing a discussion of how I would feel if I were blind. There are many people in the developed as well as underdeveloped world who have had disabilities since they were born, and many lost their abilities in some accidents or because of medical reasons. The people who have disabilities since they are born would not find difficulty in moving around or practicing life with the disabilities. On the other hand, people like me who have already seen the world and suddenly are not able to see anything would not be able to continue as easily and accept things as required.

Background

Manhattan is the busiest area of New York, United States. A disabled person would have a highly difficult time surviving in busy and highly difficult and tough routines. I have been blind since I was in my eighth grade, and from the background, I am from England, but my early childhood and all the previous time is spent in Manhattan. People from all over the world come to see the city, its hustle life, and the unpredictable busy schedules of the people living there. Living with a family and having eyes was a highly energetic and beautiful life, but since my eyes were gone, everything turned into darkness. During the time when I was not blind, we frequently traveled to different parts of the United States and England, but as now I am blind, it is highly difficult for my parents to keep me with them in unknown areas, so they prefer me to visit only closer areas including the New York City, Manhattan park and some other connected regions and rural settings. Life initially was highly comfortable, but now I mostly have nothing but to attend my rehabilitation classes and understand the ways of getting back to normal life without having eyes.

Physical Identity

Due to the loss of my eyes, I have completely changed, and the behavior of everyone has also changed completely. My parents now keep their eyes on me while I am performing the daily routines, including going to the bathroom, eating, and getting dressed. I forgot the colors. Everything is duff black.

My physical identity is a piece of meat everyone tries to decorate and to make me walk around. Last year, my father concerned my dietician because of too much sitting and bed lying as well as belly fat. Due to his concern, the doctor allowed him to bring the treadmill, which was placed in the middle of my room, and two big forms were placed on the floor behind the mill. I was supposed to run over it, and for the first time, I had to use software. My father and the fitness instructors were friends, and both of them helped me to recognize and become familiar with the device. After a couple of minutes, I was supposed to walk on the treadmill. On the first day, I was given the working machine, and then they let me try to adjust the speeds and other related things. This helped me to get my figure physically fit.

Mental Identity

The mental identity of an individual is highly considered when he has a disorder of a sense like blindness. I always feel broken and disheartened. Nobody has time for me completely to understand me. My issues are resolved completely, but I still miss the completeness and the social life that is completely absent from my life. The people who meet me are always curious to know how I am feeling and if I am really not able to see anything at all. My father’s friends and my mom’s colleagues usually come to see me as well, but these things are very little appreciated and mostly affect me negatively. My self-esteem was also highly affected, which prevented me from reassessing my identity.

Dealing with things in life is completely changed. Now, I have wide mugs on my take rather than the glass, and I prepare food and dishes for myself rather than making my personally developed sandwiches with more cheese and less sauce.

Challenges

As discussed above about the challenges I faced when I initially lost my sight, my complete identity was changed. I lost my balance. My feet didn’t recognize the floor properly, and every step was taken in an ambiguity. My home had a lot of glass ornaments and crystal vases, which I broke when I was in the wish to recognize the home completely. My parents gifted a lot of vases, glass ornaments, and other decorations to their friends for my ease. These challenges were very initial, but afterward, my ability to move around freely was taken from me. I am now not able to step out of the door alone unless everyone knows that I am leaving and a responsible person is with me. Our home is on the 17^th story beside the third door of life in the first row. I can find it, but still, the consciousness of my parents disabled me from moving around freely. One of the most terrible experiences and challenges is the inability to find things that are necessary for me in the middle of the night.

Limitations

The limitations are the only things that are highly disturbed because of blindness. Whenever my father and mother took me to the part, they kept an eye on me and made me stop in many areas. I knew there would be any unrecognizable danger, but still, it limited me to a specific world of interest. The limitations include the lack of handling all of my activities and even minor help in need of my parent’s support.

Freedom

I have freedom from the busy schedule of going to the college and the sports center. Now, I am able to sit for a long period of time and have plenty of time to listen to music and hear news about the world. I didn’t know how to explain things to others by writing. My father sent me to rehabilitation, where I was supposed to read the content in the form of depression and the doted content.

I am free from all the responsibilities except a few, including managing myself and my room, which was initially a difficult task, but now it’s quite hectic. Every day, my helper helps me to dress up properly, pins my tie and knots, and buttons the button of my shirt. Most of my tasks are easy now with respect to the past. People have a hustle routine, and they are not able to wait for anyone while I am complete. My dad managed my insurance, which pays my helper, and the rehabilitation school, which is a freedom for me to feel independent of my financial problems.

Discoveries

There are a number of possible discoveries I have made. It is not possible to state them without interaction with a real blind person. When I became sightless, my way of pondering things was different and completely new. I did not recognize the situations, air, things, weather, and sunlight as a person who does, but I used to feel things. For this purpose, I had to strengthen my listening and feeling abilities. My parents used to take me to the park where I felt the grass; it was green, but now, it was just a cold carpet with a muddy base beneath it.

There are many things that were not understandable, like the sense of fear and the sense of being lost. When I used to move around and not able to hear someone, I sometimes felt like I was dead and people were not able to listen to me. I am able to find the sunshine on the chicks and the about-to-rain conditions. Also, I was able to find the stranger in the room by his fragrance. Sometimes I have to ask If these would be no or limited voice signals. In many cases, my life was incomplete; the most prominent is the inability to discover the people in the initial time period.

Perceptions

As per the English culture, I prefer not to feel about other’s perceptions, and my focus is on privacy and my own concerns regarding my issues only. After becoming blind, there were a number of issues that caused me to feel negative about myself and my personal routines. The people with whom I used to interact with were all belonged to me as my blood relations, but initially, my helper was rude and rigid in her job and didn’t focus on my words and perceptions about life. There are a number of ways through which she showed that her interest in my discussion is rare. As my father acknowledged these things, he quickly replaced her with a male helper who was helpful in discussing things and managing all of my activities.

There is a perception that a blind person could be cut off from society, but it’s wrong. I worked as an RJ at the radio station, where I used to speak out about every possible and appropriate thing that was on my mind. I left that job because of the unavailability of transport as well as the distance issue.

Society’s Response

The social response of the people towards me is different and caring. They keep me updated and take necessary updates about my requirements. A socially blind person finds it difficult to survive, and sometimes, I hear my parents telling me that it’s too hard for them to manage a blind person. They don’t have issues with the finances but the responsibility. Round the clock, when they are not around me, they frequently call my helper as well as me to check my condition as well as my health.

I am not able to work, but I have managed to produce some podcasts that are popular on social media. People don’t know that I am blind, but the ones who know just drop a kind gesture for me always. People all over the world have disability issues. Everyone has difficulties in managing their daily routines. There are poor people as well who are dependent on others completely with respect to financially as well as physically. Usually, they are considered a burden, but eventually, society gets used to it.

Conclusion

In a nutshell, the life of an individual is not difficult for someone who is blind; it is completely different. The social circle is missing, and the people are unable to recognize themselves and their abilities. The paper is completed with the self-perception to elaborate on the problems and difficulties of a blind individual’s life as well as his mental conditions. There are many ways through which society can help an individual who has physical disabilities. One easy way is to give social support and a little time as well. It doesn’t cost as much but ends up in the happiness of a person who is blind, as well as a sense of belongingness and worthiness. Psychologically, it is very important as it is not helpful and could be used for mental modeling and structural development of the gaps created in the mind.

Works Cited

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